Romney’s Performance In Michigan Undercuts The Primary Justification For His Candidacy

Don’t get me wrong; it’s always better to win than to lose — and Romney did win Michigan.

Romney: 41%
Santorum: 38%
Gingrich: 12%
Paul: 7%

That being said, this reminds me of an old joke from Jeff Foxworthy that I’ll probably mangle.

Foxworthy was talking to one of his relatives and she was bragging about what a genius her child was. She said, “He ran outside, pointed up at the sky and said, ‘Mama, dat’s a plane!!!!’ Isn’t he just a little genius?” Foxworthy then looked at her and said, “The boy is 15 years old!”

Mitt Romney is a moderate, establishment-endorsed, charisma-free, gaffe-prone, generally unlikable candidate with a poor record as the governor of Massachusetts and a signature issue, Romneycare, that was a disaster.

His entire candidacy is centered around the fact that he’s supposed to be “the most electable candidate.” This isn’t borne out by his track record as a candidate or by current polling, which essentially ranges from within the margin of error to worse than Rick Santorum’s numbers, but still, the argument for a man who would be the most mediocre candidate the GOP would have run in the last century is what it is.

That brings us to Michigan.

Mitt Romney has the establishment on his side. He has the mainstream media and the conservative press on his side. Since he has the most money, he has the best organization. Santorum had a weak debate performance going into the state and the anti-Romney vote is split three ways. Romney’s team was also able to spend a lot more money than Santorum,

Restoring Our Future, the pro-Romney Super PAC, has spent nearly double what the Rick Santorum-supporting Red, White and Blue Fund has doled out in television, radio and print.

…”I think generally, the fact that Romney has had to devote so much time and resources to the Michigan primary is a bad sign,” says Anthony Corrado, a campaign finance expert at the Brookings Institute. “The campaign has placed an emphasis on the state, forcing Romney to spend money in Michigan that he would have preferred to spend elsewhere.”

The result of all of those huge advantages, none of which Romney would have in a general election?

A 3 point win for Mitt…in his HOME STATE.

If Mitt becomes the nominee, we’re going to have to hope that the Democrats agree to split their vote three ways and let Mitt spend more money so he’ll have a chance to compete.

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